The 7 Craziest Things People Do With Placentas

Parents do a lot of kooky things when it comes to pregnancy and childbirth. But these post-baby rituals really take the cake (not that you’ll want to eat cake (or anything) after reading this list). What can you do with your placenta, you ask? Well, you can turn it into…

1. Art: sure, hang an artful photo of your placenta on the wall. No one will think that's weird. Better yet, make a print using the blood still on the organ!

2. Teddy bears: apparently, if you treat the placenta with sea salt and then a tannin and egg mixture, you can then turn it into a small teddy. Not so much cuddly as…yuck.

3. Lasagna: no, we are not messing with you. You can replace a layer of cheese in lasagna with the bloody organ that once held your baby. Yum!

4. Jewelry: this usually involves drying the placenta and suspending pieces of it in jewelry resin. How lovely.

5. Cosmetics: such as the salve made by Pure Birth to cure cuts and rashes, or the myriad of hair care products containing placenta.

6. Pills: the theory here is that, after drying up your placenta and converting it into pill form, it will help stave off the post-baby blues, boost your overall health, and just generally benefit you and, by proxy, your baby.

7. Nothing: it's called Lotus Birthing, and it sounds like a lot of work. Instead of cutting off the umbilical cord, you put it and the placenta in a bag and carry it around with the baby until it dries up and falls off naturally.

Would you try any of these…interesting options with your placenta? Tell us in the comments!